Month: April 2013

Games Microsoft

Microsoft IllumiRoom is a coffee table projector for the next-generation Xbox

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As reported on The Verge By Tom Warren When Microsoft first unveiled its IllumiRoom technology at CES, it did so in an unusual way. The software giant traditionally reveals its research projects in short scrappy videos accompanied by research papers and a lot of technical jargon. IllumiRoom was different. Microsoft’s Chief Technology Strategy Officer, Eric Rudder, joined the Samsung keynote to showcase a video of an augmented reality projection unit designed to extend gaming onto nearby walls.…

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Economy

Economies Of Scale As A Service

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As reported on TechCrunch. by JON EVANS Don’t look now, but something remarkable is happening. Instagram had twelve employees when it was purchased for $700 million; all of its actual computing power was outsourced to Amazon Web Services. Mighty ARM has only 2300 employees, but there are more than 35 billion ARM-based chips out there. They do no manufacturing; instead they license their designs to companies like Apple, who in turn contract with companies like TSMC for the actual fabrication. Nest Labs and Ubiquiti are both 200-employee hardware companies…

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Google

Iterations: How Six Technology Investors Size Up The Google Glass Opportunity

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As reported on TechCrunch. by SEMIL SHAH People won’t stop talking about Google Glass, and rightfully so. Ever since the epic parachute-hangout demo, the Valley has been buzzing about the future coming of what is arguably one of the biggest potential advancements in computer interfaces since the iPhone. Lately, the buzz has been bubbling as Google employees, early adopters (Scoble just posted his detailed review), tech bloggers, and contestwinners have started to receive their glasses, combined with heavy, consumer-focused advertising,…

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Trends TV

LG will launch the world’s first 55-inch curved OLED HDTV (update) HD

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As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler We heard that the curved OLED HDTV prototypes LG showed at CES would be coming soon, and now it’s official. A Korean press release indicates we can expect the55EA9800 to launch in the next month, with shipments starting in June. According to the specs, its 4.3mm depth results in a weight of just 17kg, probably thanks to a carbon-fiber reinforced frame. Like an IMAX theater screen, the edges are curved towards the viewer…

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Mobile

Samsung tells the design story behind the Galaxy S 4 (video) Mobile

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As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith In case you missed it, Samsung released a new phone over the weekend and now the company’s put together a quick video describing the design notions behind its Galaxy S 4. Expect to hear the word “intuitive” a fair few times, mostly in regard to those new software features and a return of those nature-inspired design licks. Samsung adds that it’s has also cranked up the attention to detail on the hardware design,…

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Android Tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 announced, joins the Android tablet line-up with a 7-inch screen

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As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith If an 8-inch stylus-enabled Galaxy Tablet wasn’t your cup of tea, perhaps Samsung’s new seven-inch model will hit your screen-size sweet spot. The Galaxy Tab 3 has gone official and the third iteration of the company’s first Android tablet arrives with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 8GB or 16GB of storage (with expansion up to 64GB), a 3- and 1.3-megapixel camera array and a substantial 4,000mAh battery. That 7-inchWSVGA (1,024 x 600) TFT display suggests it’s likely…

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Culture

A 75-Year Harvard Study Finds What It Takes To Live A Happy Life

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As reported on Businessinsider.com Scott Stossel, The Atlantic   The project, which began in 1938, has followed 268 Harvard undergraduate men for 75 years, measuring an astonishing range of psychological, anthropological, and physical traits—from personality type to IQ to drinking habits to family relationships to “hanging length of his scrotum”—in an effort to determine what factors contribute most strongly to human flourishing. Recently, George Vaillant, who directed the study for more than three decades, published Triumphs…

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Automotive

Status Symbols: Porsche 959

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As reported on The Verge. By Chris Ziegler Meet the car that Bill Gates waited more than a decade to drive  Status Symbols are devices that transcend their specs and features, and become something beautiful and luxurious in their own right. They’re things that live on after the megapixel and megahertz wars move past them, beacons of timeless design and innovation.     Run-flat tires equipped with a pressure monitoring system. All-wheel drive. Adjustable, electronically-controlled ride height.…

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Google

Living with Google Glass, Day One: the reveal

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As reported on Engadget. By Tim Stevens In a loft atop Chelsea Market, Google is doing something special. Here, lucky Explorers will get their first taste of Project Glass. Yes, Google’s latest X project (that we know about, at least) has finally made its way to the East Coast en masse. More importantly, it’s also made its way to my face. A full Engadget review of the headset is most certainly on the way, but this…

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Culture

Bloodline: Antiviral and How to Die Like a Celebrity

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As reported on Wired. BY WIRED STAFF How much would you pay for your favorite celebrity’s cooties? Would you pay with your life? It’s the icky world of disease horror in the film Antiviral, the first feature-length effort from Brandon — son of David — Cronenberg. And if your dad is responsible for giving the world Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly, you better get your freak on. Cronenberg the Younger comes out heavy on style and high on art direction, but Jay Dayrit and…

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